SHAMLI: Reacting to UP CM Yogi Adityanath's recent "garmi nikal denge" remark, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, who was in Shamli on Saturday, said that "the temperature rises because of high power tariff and once the rates are slashed, winter chill will be back in Kairana."
Earlier in the week, Yogi had alluded to communally-sensitive Muzaffarnagar and Kairana as 'hot' places whose 'heat' he could cool down.
Targeting the BJP over difference in electricity rates, the BKU leader said that in Haryana, it is Rs 15 per horsepower, while in UP, the rates for tubewell electricity is Rs 175. Is Khattar more powerful than Yogi?" he asked. Notably, most of the tubewells in rural belts of UP are unmetered. So the tariff is calculated on the basis of motor power of the tubewell whose measuring unit is horsepower.
On CM Yogi using the names of Sachin and Gaurav who got killed in the Muzaffarnagar riots during his election campaigns, Tikait said, "Has he ever tried to find out how the bereaved family is surviving? The BJP cashed in on their names during the 2017 elections. Their family members should have been made an MLA by now. Did he do that?"
In August 2013, the two cousins were killed while another man, Shahnawaz, was murdered in Kawal village of Muzaffarnagar, triggering communal riots in the district.
On the BJP's bid to woo Jats, who constitute a considerable population of west UP constituencies, Tikait said, "We don't talk about caste. We talk about farmers. They (BJP) don't talk to farmers. We talk about 13 months of ordeal the growers had to face on Delhi borders. Farmers must ask about the law on MSP. We will tell farmers to question candidates coming to them for votes, and ensure that the farmers get all the answers."
